Absolute Controlled Clinical Maniacs

Alias:

Gender: Male

Country: Belgium

Description:

Pre Klinik. A Belgian EBM/industrial rock group, started as a synthesizer pop duo in 1981 by Marc VERHAEGHEN. Until 1982 the other member was Mark “MERLIN” BURGHGRAEVE, and three years later they were officially joined by Dirk IVENS and Eric VAN WONTERGHEM of ABSOLUTE BODY CONTROL (the latter to stay only until 1987), and in 1984-1985 by Sandy NYS, later known as HYBRYDS. The group were at their artistic prime from 1984 to 1991, their compositions of the time much in the EBM vein, but enhanced by various means of expression borrowed from industrial music. Based on irregular, often aggressive and cacophonous rhythm, they had soulless, bruitist vocals complementing lines of synthesizers and synthetically pro- cessed trombone. The sparse lyrics dealt with alienation of the individual in a dehumanised society, manipulative social engineering, lack of freedom of choice and imposition of unified moral and aesthetic canons. The group emphasised the climate of oppression which they verbalised also in their eye-catching live appearances, where they performed clad in overall black leather coats, with their heads completely wrapped in white bandages. In 1991 IVENS quit (although he returned in 2003 and 2004) to focus on his own projects, e.g. DIVE and SONAR. VERHAEGHEN also tried his luck on a solo basis for a number of years; and afterwards he occasionally invited other musicians to work with him, including Thorsten STROT, Tom CLAES and Stefan MERTES, never to repeat his success from the second half of the 1980s. Apart from this he started a number of projects with other artists, e.g. NOISE UNIT (with members of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY), D.SIGN (with DIE FORM) or X10 (with A SPLIT-SECOND and VIDNA OBMANA).